Yusuke Torigoe pulled a two-run homer into the left-field stands in the seventh inning to lift the Daiei Hawks 3-2 over the Orix BlueWave and end a five-game losing streak Friday at Fukuoka.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Yomiuri | 67 | 47 | 0 | .588 | - |
| Chunichi | 57 | 52 | 0 | .523 | 7.5 |
| Yokohama | 55 | 52 | 1 | .514 | 8.5 |
| Hiroshima | 52 | 58 | 1 | .473 | 13.0 |
| Yakult | 46 | 56 | 1 | .451 | 15.0 |
| Hanshin | 50 | 62 | 1 | .446 | 16.0 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Seibu | 59 | 48 | 4 | .551 | - |
| Daiei | 58 | 51 | 2 | .5321 | 2.0 |
| Nippon Ham | 59 | 52 | 1 | .5315 | 2.0 |
| Orix | 52 | 53 | 3 | .495 | 6.0 |
| Lotte | 48 | 57 | 4 | .457 | 10.0 |
| Kintetsu | 47 | 62 | 2 | .431 | 13.0 |
Daiei starter Brady Raggio (6-6) scattered eight hits over seven innings for the win and Rodney Pedraza set the BlueWave down in order in the ninth for his 28th save.
Buffaloes 5, Lions 4
Kintetsu outfielder Naoyuki Omura banged out a three-run homer with two out in the ninth inning to lift the last-place Buffaloes over the front-running Lions at the Seibu Dome.
Kintetsu's Norihiro Nakamura, heading to the Sydney Olympics later this month, hit his 31st homer to regain the lead over Nippon Ham's Nigel Wilson in the PL home run derby.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Giants 14, Dragons 6
Yomiuri pummeled Chunichi with 16 hits and four home runs in a romp to open up a lead of 7 1/2 games in the CL standings.
The victory gave the Giants a "magic number" of 17 to win its first Central League pennant since 1996.
Southpaw starter Kimiyasu Kudo (12-4) allowed only four hits and struck out seven over seven innings for a CL-high 12th win.
BayStars 7, Tigers 0
At Koshien Stadium, veteran first baseman Norihiro Komada went 4-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored and five Yokohama pitchers combined on a five-hitter as the BayStars eased their way to a win over host Hanshin.
Cuba rocks Japan
Cuba's two-time Olympic baseball champion team roughed up Japanese ace Masanori Sugiura for five runs in the seventh and eighth innings Friday to win 7-2 in a pre-Olympic warmup game at the Osaka Dome.